Re: Autumn Squad
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 10:30 pm
Surely Fagerson is the form 8 no?
I think that my optimism has been worn down by years of watching scottish teams and right now I can't locate it.ARM wrote:I’m actually very happy with how the pack is beginning to shape up.hugh_woatmeigh wrote:I know a lot of fans are against the concept but our failure to acquire a project hooker to "naturalise" was one of the biggest failures of that SJ led project a while back.switchskier wrote:I know that I'm a broken record, buy Matt Scott is just a better, more threatening player than Lang or Grigg, probably Harris too. And it's not as if either has been in scintillating form.
Stepping back, the options in the pack are pretty uninspiring. All can play international level rugby but it does lack one or two great players who can lift the overall level. I'd hoped McInally was going to be one after his 2018 6N but that now just looks like a run of good form.
On the other hand there are real exciting talents in the backs, but we might not get to see much of it if there's no decent ball to play off. Hope toonies been working on a better strategy.
We now have two full front rows that you could throw in to Test rugby and not be worried about. In fact we should be looking to dominate many teams. Not that long ago we were scraping about at LH with Reid (much as I love him), Dell, Marfo and Bhatti. Sutherland, Kebble plus Schoeman in due course is light years ahead. Our hookers are both top quality; Fraser Brown is in great nick. Fagerson found himself last year and Nel is a great old pro.
Plenty of options in the 2 row and Ritchie / Watson are Test quality flankers. Still a bit light at 8, but plenty of players who can do a job.
Meanwhile we have some of the best attacking talents in Euro rugby behind the scrum.
My glass is half full.
I'd definitely partner AWJ with Gray ahead of any of our options, and I say that as someone who's not his biggest fan.Cameo wrote:I sort of understand what you mean in terms of leadership but Itoje is the only one of those three I'd be desperate for playing wise. I'd rather keep Johnny Gray over AWG at this stage (though depends on form) and I'd take Watson or Ritchie over AWG.
We desperately need to win some big games though to prove a lot of these players' quality.
hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Bet you lot never thought I'd be ousted as resident SMB dickhead after going strong for well over a decade.
I feel that our other locks have each had spells when they have shown potential but not quite strung it together for long enough. Cummings and Carmichael are the two with the real athleticism (maybe Skinner too) but we could do with one of them having a big year. Gilchrist has looked very average the last few weeks.switchskier wrote:I'd definitely partner AWJ with Gray ahead of any of our options, and I say that as someone who's not his biggest fan.Cameo wrote:I sort of understand what you mean in terms of leadership but Itoje is the only one of those three I'd be desperate for playing wise. I'd rather keep Johnny Gray over AWG at this stage (though depends on form) and I'd take Watson or Ritchie over AWG.
We desperately need to win some big games though to prove a lot of these players' quality.
Johnny Gray is an interesting one. Thought that Stephen Jones (I know) made an acute observation the other day when he said that he doesn't have many standout moments of his own but everything that he does do enables others to standout. Are any of our options that good if they don't jump off the screen with Johnny doing lots of their dirty work? Have any if our last cks looked as good as the uncapped Johnny Hill has with Gray playing alongside him?
the pack can do what is needed, problem is new law interpretations and pro team level coaching. Everyone has issues with the interpretations, lack of consistency etc. Time will solve this (and refs will revert to ignoring loads of stuff) Glasgow have a transition with Wilson/Brown, but I don't expect too much of an issue there, perhaps breakdown gets better. Edinburgh a different matter. Cockerill slow slow was shown up badly last week. Players far too slow to support the carrier, resulting in isolation, in turn slow shit ball or turnover. For all their huge improvement, this has been an issue all the time. And he keeps rewarding Gilchrist's stupid pens by picking him, when boot up arse and a spell out of the squad is neededMikey Brown wrote:Cummings can make a big impact I think. He's got the aggression and physicality. He started so well for Scotland but it already feels like our tragic lack of cohesion in our forwards' gameplan is wearing him down a bit, like we do with everyone. Skinner too. These are the players that we need to be building a platform for, to expend all that energy and aggression carrying the ball forward. We just don't seem to have the handling skills in our tight forwards, or the organisation in our support play, breakdown, presentation etc. to get things moving consistently.
Toolis and Gilchrist just feel slightly like a generation that has passed now. Toolis at least offers a reliable alternative to Gray as tight lock, just doing the nuts and bolts, but Gilchrist (like Hamilton before him) has 1 great game and then 9 in a row of nothing but conceding penalties. Is Carmichael established as first choice at Edinburgh yet? Is he ever fit enough to do so?
FWIW, its easy to find out what position a player plays in. For Skinner, see Exeter Chiefs website, or Aviva Premiership or European Rugby, or many media sites like Ultimate Rugby or Itsrugby provide squad and player data. Don't need to be a guru, just able and willing to use google.Scottish Caley Fan wrote:
Fwiw, I would love to watch more club rugby other than Pro 14 (I have saw 3 games so far, 2 involving Edinburgh and one Glasgow game) so that I can be more engaging with you peeps. I know I'm not a Rugby Guru but that doesn't give you, or anyone for that matter, the right to pick on me specifically, nobody else has picked up on my lack of Rugby knowledge.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.Tobylerone wrote:hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Bet you lot never thought I'd be ousted as resident SMB dickhead after going strong for well over a decade.
I doubt you`ll give up that cherished title easily.
Can they? In more than a one-off performance? You say they can do what's needed, but then point to a number of issues that all the Scottish sides suffer from regularly. It may not be directly GT's fault, but there must be some process between all the top coaches to try and fix these flaws? Ball retention is generally so poor and I think these new law interpretations are only going to make us more of a target in that sense. If Townsend is finding all his players are poor in this area it doesn't seem good enough to just blame it on the club coaching.septic 9 wrote:the pack can do what is needed, problem is new law interpretations and pro team level coaching. Everyone has issues with the interpretations, lack of consistency etc. Time will solve this (and refs will revert to ignoring loads of stuff) Glasgow have a transition with Wilson/Brown, but I don't expect too much of an issue there, perhaps breakdown gets better. Edinburgh a different matter. Cockerill slow slow was shown up badly last week. Players far too slow to support the carrier, resulting in isolation, in turn slow shit ball or turnover. For all their huge improvement, this has been an issue all the time. And he keeps rewarding Gilchrist's stupid pens by picking him, when boot up arse and a spell out of the squad is neededMikey Brown wrote:Cummings can make a big impact I think. He's got the aggression and physicality. He started so well for Scotland but it already feels like our tragic lack of cohesion in our forwards' gameplan is wearing him down a bit, like we do with everyone. Skinner too. These are the players that we need to be building a platform for, to expend all that energy and aggression carrying the ball forward. We just don't seem to have the handling skills in our tight forwards, or the organisation in our support play, breakdown, presentation etc. to get things moving consistently.
Toolis and Gilchrist just feel slightly like a generation that has passed now. Toolis at least offers a reliable alternative to Gray as tight lock, just doing the nuts and bolts, but Gilchrist (like Hamilton before him) has 1 great game and then 9 in a row of nothing but conceding penalties. Is Carmichael established as first choice at Edinburgh yet? Is he ever fit enough to do so?
Carmichael is injured again/still - with concussion. Very worrying.
I have said I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and am standing by that . Its silly to fall out over something as small as this, we both support Scotland and want the best for them.septic 9 wrote:FWIW, its easy to find out what position a player plays in. For Skinner, see Exeter Chiefs website, or Aviva Premiership or European Rugby, or many media sites like Ultimate Rugby or Itsrugby provide squad and player data. Don't need to be a guru, just able and willing to use google.Scottish Caley Fan wrote:
Fwiw, I would love to watch more club rugby other than Pro 14 (I have saw 3 games so far, 2 involving Edinburgh and one Glasgow game) so that I can be more engaging with you peeps. I know I'm not a Rugby Guru but that doesn't give you, or anyone for that matter, the right to pick on me specifically, nobody else has picked up on my lack of Rugby knowledge.
There is no intent to bully and if that's how you feel then that's a shame and not what I want. But I will call out nonsense
Seems worth mentioning two things:Mikey Brown wrote:Can they? In more than a one-off performance? You say they can do what's needed, but then point to a number of issues that all the Scottish sides suffer from regularly. It may not be directly GT's fault, but there must be some process between all the top coaches to try and fix these flaws? Ball retention is generally so poor and I think these new law interpretations are only going to make us more of a target in that sense. If Townsend is finding all his players are poor in this area it doesn't seem good enough to just blame it on the club coaching.septic 9 wrote:the pack can do what is needed, problem is new law interpretations and pro team level coaching. Everyone has issues with the interpretations, lack of consistency etc. Time will solve this (and refs will revert to ignoring loads of stuff) Glasgow have a transition with Wilson/Brown, but I don't expect too much of an issue there, perhaps breakdown gets better. Edinburgh a different matter. Cockerill slow slow was shown up badly last week. Players far too slow to support the carrier, resulting in isolation, in turn slow shit ball or turnover. For all their huge improvement, this has been an issue all the time. And he keeps rewarding Gilchrist's stupid pens by picking him, when boot up arse and a spell out of the squad is neededMikey Brown wrote:Cummings can make a big impact I think. He's got the aggression and physicality. He started so well for Scotland but it already feels like our tragic lack of cohesion in our forwards' gameplan is wearing him down a bit, like we do with everyone. Skinner too. These are the players that we need to be building a platform for, to expend all that energy and aggression carrying the ball forward. We just don't seem to have the handling skills in our tight forwards, or the organisation in our support play, breakdown, presentation etc. to get things moving consistently.
Toolis and Gilchrist just feel slightly like a generation that has passed now. Toolis at least offers a reliable alternative to Gray as tight lock, just doing the nuts and bolts, but Gilchrist (like Hamilton before him) has 1 great game and then 9 in a row of nothing but conceding penalties. Is Carmichael established as first choice at Edinburgh yet? Is he ever fit enough to do so?
Carmichael is injured again/still - with concussion. Very worrying.
we played a very high tempo game. This leads to more turnover opportunities to opposition. This isn't unique to Scotland. All teams doing this rely on scoring more than they concede. Our problem was even when winning and scoring shed loads, we were conceding like a sieve - so have a day when less than absolutely top form, we score less but still concede at the same level.Mikey Brown wrote:Yes it’s a massive part of the game and I’m not saying it’s a simple fix, but there are errors in what we’re doing that you can see even on the days we get away with it.
I don’t disagree with either of those points, but I do also think something about our tactics or selections leaves opportunities for other sides to exploit in those areas. I’ve probably blurred over improvements in the 6 nations a bit. I was really waiting for them to final it back up a tough performance against France before getting too excited.
Definitely agree. I think the thing with Taylor is that he seems to make a decent initial impact but then I'm not sure he knows how to adapt. The first year under him, we were scoring lots of points from interceptions (though still conceding plenty) and at Glasgow the chop tackling was noticeable. Australia have started well under him too. I don't know if he would blame Townsend (or certain players) for the drop off but I suspect opposition coaches came up with plans that he didn't adapt to.Big D wrote:What will be interesting is whether DeVilliers and Tandys influence will continue to shine or whether it was a bit of a dead cat bounce.
For me it is still a big black mark against GT that he allowed Taylor to stick around for so long. Taylor may be a good coach and go on to do well elsewhere but the defence under him was consistently poor and lacking ideas.
The point about Edinburgh is a good one. But his (RC) initial challenge was to make Edinburgh competitive, which I think he has done. Now the challenge should be to evolve the way they play or leave so someone else can have a go. The SRU seem sweet on Hodge despite no signs he is capable, which is a worry.Cameo wrote:Definitely agree. I think the thing with Taylor is that he seems to make a decent initial impact but then I'm not sure he knows how to adapt. The first year under him, we were scoring lots of points from interceptions (though still conceding plenty) and at Glasgow the chop tackling was noticeable. Australia have started well under him too. I don't know if he would blame Townsend (or certain players) for the drop off but I suspect opposition coaches came up with plans that he didn't adapt to.Big D wrote:What will be interesting is whether DeVilliers and Tandys influence will continue to shine or whether it was a bit of a dead cat bounce.
For me it is still a big black mark against GT that he allowed Taylor to stick around for so long. Taylor may be a good coach and go on to do well elsewhere but the defence under him was consistently poor and lacking ideas.
Also, I think the point Septic makes about the disconnect between Edinburgh and Scotland's style is a good one. While you can't blame Cockerill, one of the few advantages of only having two teams and a small player base is that we can build a bit of a national style, but we don't have that at the moment. The counter argument is that the most important thing we need to build is a winning habit (though personally I think Edinburgh can do that another way).
I suspect he's not available but on the little that I've seen I'd take Redpath over Lang and Grigg. He's got loads of potential.Big D wrote:The point about Edinburgh is a good one. But his (RC) initial challenge was to make Edinburgh competitive, which I think he has done. Now the challenge should be to evolve the way they play or leave so someone else can have a go. The SRU seem sweet on Hodge despite no signs he is capable, which is a worry.Cameo wrote:Definitely agree. I think the thing with Taylor is that he seems to make a decent initial impact but then I'm not sure he knows how to adapt. The first year under him, we were scoring lots of points from interceptions (though still conceding plenty) and at Glasgow the chop tackling was noticeable. Australia have started well under him too. I don't know if he would blame Townsend (or certain players) for the drop off but I suspect opposition coaches came up with plans that he didn't adapt to.Big D wrote:What will be interesting is whether DeVilliers and Tandys influence will continue to shine or whether it was a bit of a dead cat bounce.
For me it is still a big black mark against GT that he allowed Taylor to stick around for so long. Taylor may be a good coach and go on to do well elsewhere but the defence under him was consistently poor and lacking ideas.
Also, I think the point Septic makes about the disconnect between Edinburgh and Scotland's style is a good one. While you can't blame Cockerill, one of the few advantages of only having two teams and a small player base is that we can build a bit of a national style, but we don't have that at the moment. The counter argument is that the most important thing we need to build is a winning habit (though personally I think Edinburgh can do that another way).
On a different note, no Vellacott or Redpath in the England squad. Not sure they merit a call up, CR might, but they remain potentially available.
Not sure I follow tbh. Since the 70s only 3 coaches have had more than 4 years in one sitting; Dickinson, Geech and Telfer.Scottish Caley Fan wrote: I'm getting sick of all this sacking coach every 2yr if we have bad 6N, its getting as bad as the SFA in football, they also have a tendency to sack managers after every failed campaign.